What's Your Story, Kwinana? | Arts & humanities website

What's Your Story, Kwinana?

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20.01.2022 This whole story over at Humans of New York is fantastic - twists and turns and powerful, tense storytelling. We highly recommend you go back to post one and read all 8 posts from start to finish.

19.01.2022 We’re Edd and Ann Samut. We’ve lived in Parmelia since 1987 and in the area since 1981. We’re long-time Rotary Club members. Edd’s the Membership Director and I’m the handbag. We love the community, the trees, the bird life in Kwinana. Birds come to visit we’ve got a birdbath and we love watching and listening to them. It’s also becoming a multi-cultural city. And we’ve got one of the best mayors in the state, Mayor Carol Adams she’s done a hell of a lot for the area.... And a very good nursing home. I (Ann) was one of the first staff at that nursing home. But, oh my goodness, the area's changed, yes. The structures, the roads We used to be involved with Scouts and Cubs and Challenger Avenue was a dirt track back then - we used to take the kids go-karting down it. Kwinana was very, very different when we moved here. Not a huge amount for us changed with COVID-19, except not being able to hug our family. We’re huggers. And it affected our weekly Rotary morning teas and meetings. We had Zoom meetings because Rotary was locked down, but it’s opening up next week. Zoom meetings made us laugh because we couldn’t get on at first. Mostly we’ve been gardening and pottering around, and planning when we can get away next. We like to hop in the van and get away, and we’re deciding whether to go north or south. We get itchy feet but we’ve gone around Australia twice now and we wouldn’t live anywhere else.

19.01.2022 "I'm Teena Raffa-Mulligan and I lived in Orelia fo 26 years before moving to Warnbro. "My links to Kwinana date back to childhood when we visited my English migrant grandparents in Medina on weekends. I came to live here in 1971 when we moved into our first family home in Orelia. From the start we loved the trees and the country town atmosphere and it felt like a wonderful place to bring up our children. "It was a small, close-knit community in those early days when shopping ...Continue reading

18.01.2022 "My name is Jean Frost (nee Wass) and I have lived in Kwinana since the early 1970s. I went to Medina Primary school and later to Kwinana High School. I did move away for about five years but got home sick and came back. "I work for Metcash, at the IGA warehouse in the receivables department, which makes me one of the hundreds of essential workers who have had to carry on working in this crazy time of social isolation. Being an essential worker has been particularly hard beca...use my husband was put into lock-down earlier than a lot of people (he was deemed a high-risk patient owing to a previous illness). When I come home from work there is a list of things I must do before I can safely enter the house, but if that is what I must do, it is a small inconvenience. "I heard on the news that the curve has flattened enough for us to have gatherings of up to twenty people. That is a good thing. We seem to be moving forward in the right direction. "I could never understand the concept of survivor guilt, but when I speak to my relatives in the UK and they ask how we are doing over here in Australia, I can’t help feeling a little conflicted in my answer. I feel proud that we have done so well and kept the virus to a minimum, but I also feel a little guilty when I say we are fine and that shops are opening day by day."

15.01.2022 My name is Greg Byron and I live in Orelia. I’ve lived here for about nine years and I love the open spaces and the community interaction. I used to be a cobbler, but more recently I delivered Homecare Direct Shopping catalogues to virtually every suburb, and picked up and delivered orders. It’s finished now but I miss the walking. I was doing 8 km a day. It’s good for you. I do a lot of community activities through Befriend Inc. I mostly do crochet. My mother taught me w...hen I was 15. It’s a way of me relaxing. Keeps me occupied. The best thing I made was a little waistcoat jacket in cotton. It had two geckos on the front and a lyrebird on the back. I designed it myself. I graphed the pictures out onto graph paper. Now I’m making a second poncho. I was making one for my wife and one of the ladies in DOME saw me doing it and she wants one in purple. I made my wife a split shawl with a mirrored peacock on it and entered it into a community fair at Serpentine-Jarrahdale. I won first prize. The CWA ladies thought I entered it on my wife’s behalf. They were arguing that no man could do it. When we were locked down, I felt a disappointed in one way because you get into a bit of a rhythm with your day, but I could understand that safety was important.

14.01.2022 Want to tell your story? These FREE workshops will help you unravel tangled memories. BOOKINGS via Nicola: 0421 633 124 or [email protected]

14.01.2022 "The biggest stories of resilience are stories from people around us ..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIvGDseFhxU

13.01.2022 "I’m Sonny Rolfe and I’m a poet, songwriter and musician. I arrived in Kwinana nearly sixteen years ago with my wife. We were looking for a quiet place to write music and songs, and do some art work a place with room to enjoy a close relationship with nature. We loved the parks and trees in Kwinana on first sight. We are lucky to have a council that really cares for the environment, with trees that are protected and many reserves where people can see and walk through our bu...shland. "Since moving here I have loved putting together a native-style garden where bandicoots, possums, and birds of all kinds visit. I’m currently chairman of the Homestead Ridge Progress Association (Conservation Committee) and I was awarded a commendation for the work our committee does in our reserves. In 2014, I was honoured to be named Citizen of the Year in Kwinana. I’ve also won and been finalist in a number of song-writing awards. "Staying home is not the norm for us, so I have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. I have missed friends, and visits out for meals, but what kept me sane was contacting as many people as possible and talking of the future, walking in our reserves, checking weed growth, and so on. "I think we’ve all had a warning to be more careful with our lifestyle, but I see the future as bright for Kwinana and the whole of Western Australia." Find out more about Sonny Rolfe at his website www.sonnyrolfe.com

11.01.2022 My name is Ruth Alexander and I live in Calista. I came to Kwinana from the UK thirty years ago with my husband and two young sons. We initially came here on an employment sponsorship with a local church, but moved to pastoring the Kwinana Family Church in Medina in 1993. We did that until Mike passed away in 2007. Music has always played an important part in my life. I became a church organist at the age of twelve, and in the ‘70s and ‘80s Mike and I were in a gospel rock... band. We performed many gigs in and around London and back then I had a stack of no less than four keyboards! Working at the Kwinana Community Arts Centre (now Koorliny Arts Centre) opened many doors to us; we both became members of the Kwinana Festival Committee and I also became very involved in organising the annual Kwinana Dance Festival. It was through the arts centre that I first met Carol Adams who, several years later as Mayor, was influential in my decision to stand for council in 2007. Sadly, he passed away three weeks before I was elected as a Town of Kwinana Councillor, but ten years as a councillor helped me to develop in my own right without a larger-than- life husband to hide behind. In 2011 l became a member of the Wellard Community Church now LifeWay Christian Centre and Wellard Early Learning Centre in Parmelia and in 2017 I was ordained as Associate Pastor. I am also the Accounts Manager for our Early Learning Centre. I retired from Koorliny Arts Centre in 2018 after nearly twenty-six years, but I now work full time as a volunteer! Until two weeks ago, I would have said COVID-19 has not made a lot of difference to me, because childcare is an essential service. But when I woke up with a sore throat one morning, then added a cough and runny nose to that, I took myself down to the COVID Clinic to get tested. I was told after my test in no uncertain terms to go straight home, ‘do not consider stopping at a supermarket or McDonalds’, and stay at home until you are notified your result is negative. Although I knew that was the procedure, it still came as something of a shock to be told that. I had a few days of inconvenience, but it was a small price to pay for the health and safety of our community. Seeing the clinic staff in their PPE reinforced how deadly this virus is; we cannot afford to take any risks. I have been very supportive of Premier Mark McGowan’s tough stand on travel restrictions and our state borders.

10.01.2022 Come and share stories and craft at this Befriend Inc meetup on Tuesday evenings at Koorliny Arts Centre.

08.01.2022 No one ever knows our full story.

08.01.2022 What's Your Story? Have you been featured yet?

04.01.2022 "Everyone has a story to tell. Everyone is a writer. Some are written in the books, and some are confined to hearts." - Savi Sharma. Yesterday we heard from long-time Kwinana local Jean Frost. Who will share their story this Sunday? You'll have to wait and see. Don't forget, if you want to share your story, email Monique at [email protected]

01.01.2022 "I'm Bob Thompson and I live in Orelia. I am now retired after many happy and satisfying years working in Local Government. With my wife Jo and our two daughters, we moved to live in Orelia thirty years ago. "My current local community involvement here includes a long-term membership of the Rotary Club of Kwinana, Secretary of the local Citizens Advice Bureau, Board member of the Koorliny Arts Centre, Catholic Church active parishioner and Finance Committee member, Tennis Cl...ub member and community support group member. I'm proud to have been awarded the Kwinana Senior Citizen of the Year for 2020. "During this present period of social isolation my life has changed a lot - no longer able to attend meetings, the closure of our Church to regular services, and not being able to support our family with the child minding and care that we had been providing. Big impacts, but supported by me as being necessary for community care and protection. "With more time spent at home, Jo and I have been doing lots of cleaning and gardening jobs that we have not had the time (or maybe the inclination) to tackle. "I am happy with the way Australia is at this stage dealing with handling the coronavirus, particularly In WA. It's a great place to be in the world at this time. [But] a proven vaccine being developed for preventing the virus is high on our prayer list. "Little miracles still come long though even in these difficult times. We have a very large area of vacant land behind our back fence and I had arranged for our eldest grandson to help me clear the high and thick weed growth along the fence. A couple of days before our planned start, a team of bobcats arrived. One with a large rake got to work and cleared away the high weed growth along my fence and that of my neighbours'. It turned out that the land owners want to sell the land and wanted to present it in the best possible light. A little miracle."